09/23/2006

City gets $161,804 bill for deck plans

By
Record-Eagle staff writer

TRAVERSE CITY — The city received a fresh reminder of the public parking deck its voters didn't want when a $161,804 bill showed up for design plans.

In February, the city agreed to a contract with developer Federated Properties. It obligated the city to pay for 30 percent of the design documents for the public deck — work to be done before residents voted on a city bond issue of up to $16 million to pay for the project.

More than 71 percent of city voters on Aug. 8 rejected the bond issue proposal.

Last week, invoices arrived at city hall detailing the city's $161,804 share for documents that City Manager Richard Lewis said "were designed and developed for that site and that site only."

The cost of the work is about $38,000 less than what the city commission authorized. It will be paid for with the city's tax increment financing funds.

The city's decision to pay for design work prior to the referendum troubled project opponents. It still bothers Jim Carruthers, who helped collect signatures to force a public vote on the bond issue.

"I think it angered people because, why were we getting into a negotiation with a company before a vote," he said. "We thought when we got the signatures ... that everything would come to a screeching halt until after the vote."

Lewis said without the design work, the city would have played a "guessing game" as to the true cost of the project. The documents showed the project would cost $12.3 to $12.9 million, a number city officials said gave voters needed information before the referendum.

The bill from Federated Properties for work by Plymouth-based CDRO Architects/Planners and Carl Walker, Inc., covers mechanical, electrical, civil engineering, schematic design and design development. Contingency funds and money budgeted to check the soil were not used, saving the city about $38,000 from its cost estimate.

"This should make your day," wrote Michael Uzelac of Federated Properties, in a letter to Lewis detailing the bill.

Local attorney Michael Gillman said the city's decision to commit money to the project before voters agreed to build it was "premature."

"It was one of the aspects of the entire situation, as it developed, that helped convince me that everything hadn't been thought-out very well," he said.

See related story:

• Voters rankled by poll on deck - September 2, 2006
• More than 70 percent say no to bond issue - August 9, 2006
• Voters get their say on parking deck - August 8, 2006
• Significant dates for West Front Street public parking deck project - August 6, 2006